The Puffer Forum

i have read the f8 puffers are freshwater and not brackish tho they can tolerate brackish and even full marine i was wondering if you think it whould be alright to put a f8 with 4 dwarf puffers in a freshwater 20 long?

Most people here agree that Fig8s actually prefer low-end brackish (around 1.005) but can tolerate FW. They are much longer lived if kept in brackish, however.
I've never had a fig8, but I suspect people here are going to tell you that they wouldn't get along very well. (apart from the salinity difference)

Polish, I think you have it backwards. F8s are BW puffers that can tolerate FW & SW. In low-end BW, they can live 18 years. I wouldn't expect them to live past 5 in FW. There is an excellent article on them in our Library. Check it out.

As far as tank size, 1st puffer-15g & 10g more for any additional F8s. I also wouldn't mix puffer species.

I keep one aggressive F8 in a 30 long.

I'll wait until I have the perfect empty planted tank to get dwarf puffers.

Where did you read that the F8 is FW? That's either a mistake or misinformation.

Please don't consider mixing these species. If you have the room for it, a 20 gal long is so inexpensive, getting another one would qualify as the best puffer investment you make.

Where did you read that the F8 is FW? That's either a mistake or misinformation.

I could probably find more sites on the web that say they are FW, than I could that say they are BW. Doesn't mean they are correct. You're right, there's a lot of misinformation out there!

Hey PP,
I just got a freebie book last week - "Inne's Exotic Aquarium Fishes 21st ed." as a bonus for a 3 year TFH subscription. You should see the puffer section. A GSP photo on p280 is labelled T. fluviatilis, as is the species description. The F8 puffer is labelled T. palembangensis. Under the description of the F8, the length is given as 8 inches. Colomesus psittacus is described as reaching 4 inches and the photo of it is actually that of C.asellus. 0 for 3 for puffers.

There are howlers throughout this new book. Under "Number of Fishes per Aquarium" on p.29, it is stated that for a 10 gallon aquarium, 20 small fish (1 to 1.5 inches), or 10 to 12 medium fish (2 to 3 inches) or 2 to 4 large fish (4 to 5 inches - such as grown Discus) could be kept. Yikes - what happens if they live and grow?

I expect to see bad information on the internet, but these things should have editors.

Then the first 2006 issue of TFH arrives with an article about fish health, in which the author actually snips off some gills from one of her sick, but living, fish. No surprise that the patient did not survive.

HOLY SHIITE snipping gills thats evil lol

Yeah, even the printed word in well-respected books can be bad. Even the GSPs at the John G Shedd Aquarium, here in Chicago, are labled as fluviatilis!

If you ever get the chance to check out the book: Encyclopedia of Exotic Fishes, all the puffer profiles are correct. That's cause mwah wrote them!

crazy timing puffer-punk we both posted at 1:01 right on lol

I visited the Shedd Aquarium in 1982 or 83 with the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists (ASIH) when we had our annual meeting at SIU. We had dinner one night with tables set around the tanks and spent the rest of the night exploring the place. Great place; I was focused on different species at the time, but you'd think with that group, somebody would have noted an improper i.d.

I look forward to reading your puffer profiles in the Encyclopedia !

F-8s and GSPs are the most often mis-ID'd puffers in the hobby in this country, largely because they are or were the commonest. But puffer nomenclature is a mess anyway.

The 9th and 19th editions of Innes both ID the GSP as Tetraodon fluviatilis, and as a scavenger! FW of course, but at least a species-tank was suggested. After the 19th edition, many more errors were introduced to the Innes book.

I keep my F8 in a ten gallon tank, with the SG at 1.007, and some aragonite and gravel as the substrate. although I really need to upgrade to a bigger tank soon. maybe when I get a job, and the space.


-John

IMO, a 20 gal long would be perfect for your F8 and a bargain that's hard to beat at $25-28 US. Do it before you start paying auto insurance. Most of my son's part-time high school job paycheck goes for auto insurance.

Hey, at least your son is paying the insurance - that never happened with ours.